All Forum Posts by: Brian Lusk

Skip tracing question for all of those who are kind enough to give their experience or opinion. When a property has a husband and wife as the owners of record on my county's assessor site, do you guys separate the husband and wife out and list them both on the spreadsheet to be skip traced? Or do you just list one owner to be skipped? Appreciate the help!

Hi Johnny, 

This zip (like much of Memphis) varies greatly. Is the property North or South of Park Ave and Southern Ave? Is it East or West of Highland? As you can tell by the listings on the MLS, homes in one part of the zip are 5000 sqft top of the line homes, while some a little further south are less than 1000 sqft and going in the $30's.

@heidiofferdahl sounds like you just need an AC unit. Just price it into the rehab budget. I would strongly suggest having that amenity in your investment. That vacancy is a cash flow killer 

When you say no AC do you mean it doesn't have a condenser presently or the home was not built with central heat & air.  For that area of town, when the homes were built, it would be very uncommon for a house not to have central.

Who told you it doesn't have AC?  As mentioned before, the condenser very likely could have been stolen.  Or the condenser could have been pulled and stored off site to prevent theft.  For that area of town, and many others, we either cage our units, or remove them and keep them in our warehouse.

Not having central heat and air, especially in relativity newer homes such as in 38118, will be a BIG problem in renting it in Memphis.  The summers are brutal.  Heck sometimes the springs and falls are brutal.  I have worked with investors/clients who only put window units in, and their homes sit vacant for way too long.  Never understood it.

Hello All, 

Please excuse the long post, but I want to make sure I get out all the info on the front end.

My question is in regards to flipping a house very close to a lot (10+) new construction/spec homes. What effect will the newly built homes have on the ARV of the home I may chose to flip? Will they lower the ARV of my house because new (and maybe nicer) homes are being built on the same street? Or will is pull my ARV up because they are in fact luxury homes? I would be flipping my house as close to the level of the new homes as possible as far as options, finishes, etc. Does anyone have any experience in flipping in the middle of a ton of new, and luxury, construction?

This is in a part of town that is considered to be "posh" or "trendy."   The new homes being built on the same, and surrounding streets, are all roughly the same size as mime, and would be considered luxury homes.  They all have very good finishes and options.  Far from "cookie cutter."  They are selling for a very good price per sqft for Memphis, around $140-$160/sqft.  They are all about the same sq footage (2200 sqft +) as the home I am considering.  All selling in the mid to upper $300's,  around $375k to $390k.

The house I am considering was built in 1920, the original time when this area of town was developed.  The home does have some updates such as some paint and flooring, but there is much more I could and would add.  The asking price is $205,000  ($93/sqft), which is slightly below current market value.  The seller has lowered the asking price $85k over the last 2 months and I am hoping they are very motivated.  Again this area of town is one of the only trendy parts of a city that is mostly "blue collar" and great of cash flow.

  I am not sure if the new home sells have already affected the market value of the home in question, or if there is more room to go up.  I know it is a very bad idea to bet on appreciation, and I will not be doing so.  I absolutely will only pay what I feel comfortable with, and will not fall in the trap of relying on having to get a top sells price to make a profit.  But as I determine what I could offer on the home, I was hoping for some help from everyone on how to figure in, or judge, all the good new construction going on.

Thanks for you help!

Hi Henry!  Memphis is a great market for buy & hold and cash flowing properties.  I'm a life long Memphian and have work in RE for a handful of years.  I would say you should absolutely find a local contact that can be your "boots on the ground."  

If you are looking for some data to dig into, check out the Chandler Reports. http://www.chandlerreports.com/Site/Default.asp

@Dean Harris in our office is another great resource, and is also the host of a weekly radio show, "The Memphis Real Estate Radio Hour," that is great.  Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/TheMemphisRealEstateHour/

Let us know how else we can help.